Hidden Danger in Your Car
According to the results of a recent study, your car’s air freshener, dashboard, and seats, emit benzene – a very detrimental chemical that can cause cancer. Aside from the fact that the chemical could cause cancer, it is also injurious to your bones and white blood cells. As a matter of fact, prolonged exposure to benzene may lead to leukemia (a type of cancer of the blood). Benzene exposure is also not advisable for pregnant women as it can cause miscarriage.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), long-term exposure to benzene fumes, meaning a year or more, can have harmful effects on the bone marrow of a person and can decrease the amount of circulating blood cells, leading to anemia. In addition, exposure to benzene fumes can also affect a person’s immune system and increase the chances of infection.
Experts say that the acceptable level of benzene when you are indoors should not exceed 50 mg per sq. feet however; a car parked indoors with windows closed for a period of time can accumulate up to 400 to 800 mg of benzene. Way beyond the safe level isn’t it? What’s worse is that when a car is parked outdoors and is highly exposed to sunlight, benzene concentration inside the car could dramatically boost up to 2,000 to 4,000 mg which is forty times the accepted level. When the owners of this car inhale the injurious chemical, for sure, time will come that they will suffer from variety of ailments brought about by too much exposure of this harmful chemical. If you do not want to put yourself and your family at risk, then make it a habit to open the windows and doors first to allow ventilation before you enter your car.
Benzene is a chemical that is very hard to expel once it is already in the body. It is also very damaging to your vital organs especially to your kidneys and liver. Several studies that were conducted also revealed significant results that could support the claim between benzene and cancer. It has been found out that people who are more exposed to the chemical have much higher tendency of developing leukemia especially AML than those people who work’s in a benzene-free environment.
If you breathe in high levels of benzene fumes, you can develop a number of unpleasant symptoms, including drowsiness, dizziness, rapid or irregular heartbeat, headaches, tremors, confusion and unconsciousness. If you are exposed to extreme levels of benzene concentration in the air, the chances of death as a result of benzene intoxication become a real possibility.
This material is not intended to prohibit drivers from using their car’s air-conditioning unit. But rather to reiterate to each and every one the importance of not turning on the air conditioning unit immediately after you enter your car. Ventilation is highly important to prevent the passengers from inhaling detrimental benzene fumes; therefore, it is very important to instruct them to roll down there windows for a few minutes.
We should always be vigilant in any situations that might affect our health because as we are all aware of, our bodies are very fragile hence, we should employ measures that would shield us from the detrimental substances that lurks in our surroundings. We can do so much for our health; all we need to do is to become aware and mindful because even little acts for our health would surely count.
Please take note not to immediately switch on A/C as soon as you enter the car. You also need to open the windows first for few minutes before you turn on the air-conditioning unit of your vehicle. These are friendly reminders that you need to follow if you do not want to harm your body.
Sources:
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/benzene.asp
